View Full Version : Sexing baby scan
Does anyone know if you ask will the Caithness General tell you the sex of baby at your 20wk scan?
jinglejangle
19-Jan-07, 13:35
yes they will tell you if it is possible to tell [if you know what i mean] although i have heard of people being told they are having a girl when the baby must have been lying in a certain way and then they have had a boy!
When i was pregnent with my 3rd child i asked.(5 yrs a go)
They did tell me but also reminded me it is just a guide & not guaranteed.
Kaishowing
19-Jan-07, 13:49
When my wife was pregnant last year, during one of the scans up at Caithness General we asked if they could tell us the sex of our child for us.
We were told in no uncertain terms that it is against Local Health Authority policy to give any indication about sex of the child.
Apparently there ave been legal cases in the past where parent have sued their Health Authority for giving the wrong sex.
We explained that either way we wouldn't mind, and that even an informed guess would do us...-but still no go.
By the way, we had a lovely 9lb 2oz baby boy in August.
2051donna
19-Jan-07, 14:37
Hiya, i asked with my wee boy, they refused to tell me. They said they dont do it anymore.. however a few weeks later they told 1 of my friends she having a boy..
Alice in Blunderland
19-Jan-07, 14:46
They used to tell you and I have to say my only boy should according to the scan have been another girl. They stopped telling as they have had complaints when they get it wrong, this said it depends who scans you, they will sometimes let it out but not often. :)
My family have always been refused this request on grounds explained above. Think they do it in Glasgow :)
funky-dunky
19-Jan-07, 16:03
hi they dont always tell you as i am having twinsand i thought they might have at least been able to tell me one o them but they said they aint allowed as they have been wrong before so i waited untill i seen dr kosseim a doctor in inverness and she told me.
wick might tell you but they aint ment to just incase they are wrong.
DarkAngel
19-Jan-07, 20:47
They dont always tell you in wick hospital. I asked when i was pregnant and they wouldnt tell me, We ended up goin down to Glasgow for a 4D scan..That was amazing!:)
I have heard that though they won't tell you, if parents show an interest in knowing the sex, the ulrasound technician will start refering to the baby as a "he" or "she"......
Colin Manson
19-Jan-07, 23:33
I'm sure I read that if the obstetrician is doing the scan then you can be told the sex, if it's not an obstetrician then they aren't supposed to say.
We did get hints, the 10 week scan hint was incorrect but a later scan to check the growth gave us a correct hint.
DarkAngel
19-Jan-07, 23:52
I seen my baby boys bits in 4D...Weird! lol :lol:
Seems daft that they can't just tell you without putting it in writing - wouldn't take much too come up with a waiver for you to sign before they're prepared to tell you...
... and which refers to a note they give you informing you that they can take no responsibililty for the accuracy of information as it's something done by eye and it can be difficult to detect depending on the way the baby is lying in the womb and the stage of development of the baby.
I reckon Esther would've given 'em a 'Jobsworth' award!
i begged with my last two. and they wouldnt tell me..
raigmore has signs up stating not to even ask that it is against hospital policy to do sexing.
sometimes depending on who does it.. they will give you hints.. but they are not allowed to tell you..
goes back to being sued..
My babies were born back in the days when scans weren't routine, only done for potential problems. :(
I'd have liked to have known what sex they were to get more prepared & not just to call the baby "it"! But then I didn't mind either way, & I think even so I'd have been a bit disconcerted if they'd told me one and it turned out to be the other.
If they could tell you for 100% certain, I think most people would want to know, but if it's not definite maybe not?
If you're really desperatefor a girl then it must be distressing if they tell you you are, but it turns out to be a boy (and vice versa of course) - but when the baby's born you just want him or her to be healthy, don't you. :D
I was told that the reason for not telling you the sex of a baby has very little to do with being sued (especially since ultrasound technology has evolved so much that you can see exactly what your babies features are before he/she is born), but alot more to do with sex selection. There are many people out there who want first borns to be sons. As abortion is legal in the UK, once the sex is known and if it is not the "correct" one, couples could opt for termination. Since discrimination is not allowed, you cannot refuse sexing of fetuses to certain cultural or ethnic groups because of the risk of sex based terminations, so everyone is refused sexing of their babies. In Portugal your baby is sexed as a matter of fact, but you are informed only if you request it. Abortion is not legal, so supposedly this kind of selection of certain sex embrios is not a problem (unless they do something that is illegal).
I don't know if this is true, but it does make sense. I feel very strongl;ly that termination of a child based on it's sex is very wrong. Look at the effect it had on china: lots of little boys with no brides.
PS: This is all I could find on the subject on-line. I couldn't find any nhs policy statement with regard to the matter. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=47868&nfid=rssfeeds
As abortion is legal in the UK, once the sex is known and if it is not the "correct" one, couples could opt for termination.
As you say it does make sense, although I hadn't known that in the UK you could opt for termination solely because the foetus was the "wrong" sex.
If so, it's very sad. In many cultures girls have historically been unwanted.
Angela, when you opt for the termination, you don't go to the doctor saying it's the "wrong" sex....you would, I suppose, claim economic or psycological distress with the pregnancy and subsequent baby...or any other valid reason for abortion that could be applied to your situation.
both of my friends who are pregnant were told the sex at the 20 week scan.
Kaishowing
20-Jan-07, 17:47
.......I don't know if this is true, but it does make sense. I feel very strongl;ly that termination of a child based on it's sex is very wrong.
Unfortunately, this is true also....We were told this by a midwife while my wife was expecting, but just to avoid potential racist accusations, the Hospitals claim that it's their policy stricly for legal reasons.
As for scanner abilities nowadays, that's also true, but the main scanner at Caithness General is only as sophisticated as the mobile scanners in the Raimore Maternity wards.
The main scanners down there are streaks ahead of the ones up here, so we just have to make do with what's available.
Accuracy of sexing using the Caithness General scanners are still very hit and miss.
It's a pity that more people don't think of adoption as an alternative to abortion. If that hadn't been an option considered, I wouldn't be here!!:eek:
There are many people out there who want first borns to be sons. As abortion is legal in the UK, once the sex is known and if it is not the "correct" one, couples could opt for termination. Since discrimination is not allowed, you cannot refuse sexing of fetuses to certain cultural or ethnic groups because of the risk of sex based terminations, so everyone is refused sexing of their babies.
So what you're really saying is that because of other people's cultural backwardness, my desire to know the sex of my child is restricted because of other people's barbaric attitudes?
Rheghead, that is what I have been told, though as I have said, I haven't been able to find any written policy. There are many papers on the ethics of sexing babies before the time limit for abortion.
Before anyone goes off on a tangent, it is not always thrid world cultures or exclusively foreigners who have a wish for the primogenate to be male.
i would love to havea girl this time personally but its not gonna happen..
i dont seem to be able to make girls!
rockchick
20-Jan-07, 21:23
Granted, I gave birth in a different country, so perhaps there's little common ground, but:
I was asked if I wanted to know what the sex of the baby was (at 19 weeks routine scan)
I didn't, but I saw the screen myself, and my daughter made herself known at that time! no doubt about her sexuality at 19 weeks (or at eleven year either!) and I didn't need to be told that my baby was a girl...I could see it for myself! However, I appreciate that not everyone can interpret an ultrasound...apparently my brain just works that way.
In Canada, you are offered only a single ultrasound (at 19 weeks - late enough to determine any defects, but young enough to be certain of the age of the fetus) unless there's complications...unless things have changed since I had the Spud in 1995...I have to say there's something wondrous and weird about seeing your unborn child on a screen...like spying on someone when they're not watching. It was great, and I still have the photos of my scan. (laff..the baby appears to be waving!)
footie chick
20-Jan-07, 21:33
I personally only wanted to know on the last one but in the end I chickened out and said no after all it's worth all the pain at the end waiting to find out what you've had.
think it would have taken the shine off it if you knew most of the way through
I was scanned at CGH for my WeeBurdies. We asked both times, and were told that the Radiographer was "pretty sure but can never be 100% via ultrasound" it was going to be a girl, each time. So she was bang on. For the first one, we even had the name settled by the time we'd reached Watten :lol: !
I personally only wanted to know on the last one but in the end I chickened out and said no after all it's worth all the pain at the end waiting to find out what you've had.
think it would have taken the shine off it if you knew most of the way through
From my experience I have to say it never took the shine off in the slightest, as it's still all new and exciting, and we were both debating who the beasties were going to look like, would they have lots of hair, what if they were actually boys... :eek: :)
For the first, we chose not to tell anyone, so it was our secret - for our second, we gave family/friends the option of knowing if they wanted.
I must say with my two girls it was really exciting not knowing their sex till the birth. With the first the consultant who delivered her told me she was a girl, but with the second I was the first to actually look and see it was another girl, and I was delighted.
I did almost find out the sex first time around when I ended up in Raigmore at 37 weeks with a false alarm, and they had to scan me to check if my amniotic sac was still intact, but when I asked for the sex they said they weren't allowed to. That's nearly 5 years ago. Second time round I didn't even consider asking cos I wanted it to be a surprise - and was glad of that!:D
As a friend of mine says - "there's only one surprise you get when your baby is born, so don't spoil it by finding out the sex beforehand!" :lol:
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